Restorative Justice Approach Essay

Not only has there been debates about what approach should be used when punishing juvenile offenders, but there has also been debates about the need for two separate justice systems. Some individuals believe that juveniles need to be punished for their delinquency by being sentenced to jail just as an adult offender would be. According to Urban, Cyr, and Decker (2003), The Violent Crime Control Act of 1995 allows juveniles who are 13 years old and up to be sentenced as an adult if they have committed a violent crime with a fire arm on federal property. Advocates of such acts believe the juvenile justice system has failed at “rehabilitating” offenders by placing more focus on rehabilitation and treatment practices. Because of this these advocates

Although some believe that the “just desert” method will restore balance to the community, it has been found to be ineffective when properly dealing with the elimination of crime in the future (Wenzel and Theilmann, 2006). Instead the “just desert” approach creates a antagonistic relationship between the community, victims, and offenders. However by taking a restorative justice approach to crime, offenders have the opportunity to engage in community service and give back as well as attend educational programs that educate them on victim awareness (Wenzel and Theilmann, 2006). This approach was also found to restore values in offenders and bring about more understanding between the offender, their victim(s), and communities (Wenzel and Theilmann, 2006). Karen Pryor, a well known Behavior Psychologist who focused much of her studies on training and the avoidance of punishment practices, said it best when she stated that punishment is the first thought when behavior goes wrong and that it is humanity’s favorite method of dealing with undesired behaviors (Pryor, 1996). However, this should not be the case, especially with our juveniles whether delinquent or not because harsh punishment practices does not teach anything, and is merely a temporary solution to the real problem (Pryor,

As discussed in depth, there are all types of crimes that are committed by young offenders these days and the offenders possess a number of different characteristics. There have been many theoretical crime explanations that have been formed over the years that attempt to explain the reasoning behind the question of why certain individuals, both young and old, are more prone to commit crimes. The discussion of punishment practices are also important because it displays the many approaches that have been taken to ensure that juvenile delinquents are being treated fairly, but punished and rehabilitated all simultaneously. Many methods fall under this kind of approach referred to as the restorative justice approach such as neighborhood conference committees, victim impact panels, sentencing circles, and community impact panels which all attempt to rehabilitate the offender, but also to involve members of society including the victims/survivors of crimes (Siegel, 2009). It is believed and hoped with the continuation of processes, practices, and programs in place such as these that juvenile crime will eventually decrease bringing more order to our society as a whole. Overall, this paper strives to bring awareness to juvenile delinquency by